SUNY Maritime College Public Access to Records/Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Public Access to Records/Freedom of Information Law SUNY Maritime College is required to comply with the provisions of New York State's Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law §§ 84-90). As such, the College must make certain records available to the public for review or to provide copies of such records upon request. Requests Requests must: be made in writing to SUNY Maritime College FOIL Officer. indicate that it is a FOIL request; reasonably describe the records sought, as specifically as possible, including the dates the record(s) cover, titles, specific files and designations. state whether the requestor wishes to review the information on site during normal College business hours, or to have copies produced, in which case there is a fee of $.25 per copy, payable in advance of receiving the material(s). Acknowledgement The College has five business days to acknowledge the request for information, including indicating whether the College intends to grant or deny access, in whole or in part, to the requested information. If the College intends to deny access, in whole or in part: It should provide an explanation and a date, within reason based upon the circumstances, when the information will be provided. Such denial shall be in writing, stating the reason(s) and detailing the requestor's right to appeal such denial. If the College intends to grant access, it should do so within 20 additional business days of the acknowledgment unless a determination is made that more time is needed to fulfill the request. The FOIL Officer date stamps the request when it is received and creates a file for each request. The department or office responsible for the records sought is notified of the request for those records. The department or office will then identify and locate the records requested. These are reviewed responsiveness to the request and compliance with the Freedom of Information Law. The materials are duplicated and sections that are determined to be non-releasable are blacked out. 1 Note: Please be advised that the Freedom of Information Law pertains to access to existing records. As such, the College is not obligated to create new records or answer questions. Requests not fulfilled in a timely manner are considered a denial and subject to appeal. Any person, group, or agency who feels that a request has been denied unfairly may appeal within 30 calendar days (Pub. Off. Law § 89(4)(a)). Appeals must be in writing, stating the reason, and should be sent to: Geraldine Gauthier, Associate Counsel FOIL Appeals Officer Office of General Counsel SUNY System Administration SUNY Plaza – Broadway Albany, New York 12246 Denial of Access Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, Section 87(2), includes nine conditions for denial of access to records. An agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that: (a) are specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute; (b) would, if disclosed, result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (c) would, if disclosed, impair present or imminent contract awards or collective bargaining negotiations; (d) are trade secrets or are submitted to an agency by a commercial enterprise or derived from information obtained from a commercial enterprise and which if disclosed would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise; (e) are compiled for law enforcement purposes and which if disclosed would: interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings; deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication; identify a confidential source or disclose confidential information relative to a criminal investigation; or reveal criminal investigative techniques or procedures, except routine techniques and procedures; (f) could if disclosed endanger the life or safety of any person; (g) are inter-agency or intra-agency communications, except to the extent that such materials consist of: statistical or factual tabulations or data; instructions to staff that affect the public; final agency policy or determinations; or external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government; (h) are examination questions or answers that are requested prior to the final administration of such questions; or (i) if disclosed, would jeopardize an agency's capacity to guarantee the security of its information technology assets, such assets encompassing both electronic information systems and infrastructures; or 2 (j) are photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other recorded images prepared under authority of section eleven hundred eleven-a of the vehicle and traffic law. Additional Information The following links contain additional relevant information regarding State University of New York records access or New York's Freedom of Information Law: SUNY: www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=537 New York state: www.dos.ny.gov/coog/index.html The above information does not pertain to access to student records. Requests for access to student records, such as transcript requests, should be made to the Office of the Registrar using the form below: http://www.sunymaritime.edu/documents/2009/6/28/transcript_request_web_updated_$10_609.pdf 3 .